Cottam honey producer Sun Parlor Honey is one of two companies to have launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against two chemical companies that make pesticides the beekeepers allege are linked to bee deaths.

“I got involved because of our losses last year and the amount of damage that we had both to our bees and our honey production,” said Tom Congdon, who owns Sun Parlor with his wife. “We just felt that if we don’t do something we’re going to be out of business.”

Congdon said last year the company lost 41 per cent of its colonies through the winter and another 25 per cent in the spring. He said it produced about a 27 pound average of honey, compared with 125 pounds on average over the last ten years.

“There’s very little we can do,” he said, adding even relocating the colonies isn’t enough due to the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides. “There’s nowhere to run anymore.”

Paula Lombardi, a partner with Siskinds LLP of London and Toronto, which filed the suit, said about 30 honey producers have joined the suit.

Their statement of claim alleges that Bayer Inc. and Syngenta International AG were negligent in their development and distribution of neonicotinoids, as well as permitting or failing to prevent damages to beekeepers.

They allege that the two companies also knew or should have known that the crop insecticides would cause damage.

The lawsuit, which has yet to be certified as a class action, seeks $450 million in damages. None of the allegations have been tested in court.

The statement of claim notes that several products containing the neonicotinoids produced by the two companies received conditional approvals by the federal government.

A Health Canada report has suggested that seeds treated with neonicotinoids contributed to the majority of the bee deaths in Ontario and Quebec in 2012, likely due to exposure of the pesticide-laced dust during planting.

The Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists has said that the overall number of bee colonies in Canada has increased over the years, although the annual “winter loss” reported by beekeepers averaged 25 per cent, well above the acceptable level of 15 per cent.

The losses were particularly pronounced in Ontario, where 58 per cent of bees didn’t survive the winter.

While the association’s survey pointed to the weather as the main culprit, apiculturists in Ontario and Quebec also listed acute and chronic pesticide damage or insufficient recovery from pesticide exposure last year as contributing factors.

Congdon said he’s already sold off some colonies and fears losing more.

“It was better to move the colonies right out of this area than trying to keep them here and watch them die.”

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